Opposition unity: Is history repeating itself?

Staff Writer | Wednesday July 28, 2010 00:00

 

Among them was former Mogoditshane MP Mokgweetsi Kgosipula, who had served the BCP as secretary general. The BNF was only too happy to welcome Kgosipula, while the BCP cried foul. The BCP argued that it was the wrong time to welcome defectors while the parties were about to embark on a process of cooperation. The BCP said reciving defectors from its ranks will only undermine the process that required confidence-building. The BNF must have been only too happy to swell their numbers and celebrate their conquest. 'How can we stop people who want to join our party,' was the refrain from the BNF.

Kgosipula joined the BNF and went on to give some memorable quotes to members of the press who latched on for sound bites.

'BCP e belege ngwana a sa tlhakolwa ka ha morago,' Kgosipula said at a rally where he was welcomed by BNF in Mogoditshane.

Instead of focusing on the cooperation talks, the BCP and BNF renewed their cat and mouse attacks on each other. Wherever he went on BNF national campaigns, Kgosipula was heckled and given a torrid time by BCP supporters, who saw him as a dissident who wanted to soil their party.

The cooperation talks eventually floundered. Of course the collapse of the talks cannot be directly attributable to the Kgosipula incident but there is no denying that the opposition talks largely failed because of the high level of mistrust particularly between the main opposition players then, the BNF and the BCP. Fast forward to last week's events.

pposition supporters who over the President's Day holidays were tripping over in excitement that their parties have been given a free mandate to negotiate on cooperation got a sobering check at a BNF rally in Lobatse last weekend.

Some scorned BNF supporters spewed bile on Lobatse MP, Nehemiah Modubule who less than two weeks ago, decided to join the new kid on the political block, the Botswana Movement for Democracy (BMD). The MP has been languishing in the political wilderness for about two years following his expulsion from the BNF.

'Modubule ga se BNF, boelang mo phathing le mo tlogele a tsamaye a le nosi,' thundered BNF's James Mathokgwane at the Saturday rally.

Many speakers before him had carpeted the former BNF fire-brand for having ditched them.

'Comrades a mme lo dira sentle gore le attack- Modubule le BMD,' asked a concerned BNF youth leader, Arafat Khan.The group that had huddled together as the rally was going on seems to be in unison that Modubule is a political traitor and that he has invited the attack on himself. 'Why are you concerned about Modubule, you expelled him from the party and you did nothing when he applied to be re-admitted. You certainly cannot be crying now,' I ask.

All eyes turn on me as if I have asked a stupid question and everyone wants to answer me.'Most of us sympathised with Modubule when he was expelled by the previous central committee. We wanted him and other comrades to be reinstated but the central committee was intransigent and we decided that since the committee was leaving office anyway, we would sponsor a resolution at congress that all expelled and suspended comrades should be reinstated into the party and Modubule knew about this. We were shocked that two days before congress, Modubule decided to join BMD, before we could even put a resolution before congress.

Of course we are frustrated by the action of this comrade. We rallied BNF supporters to vote for him in Lobatse and for him to dump them this way is treacherous. He was voted by BNF members knowing that he would be returned to the BNF kraal,' said a BNF comrade.

While some BNF activists, such as Khan, were ambivalent about the attack on BMD, several supporters were condescending on the conduct of BMD on the Modubule issue. They feel the BMD is not coming with clean hands.

'Technically, Modubule was expelled from the BNF but the BMD leadership knew the Modubule-BNF dynamics much more than that. They knew that Modubule had re-applied to the party and that the BNF members wanted him re-admitted into the front.

Why are they courting Modubule when they know that the issue will rub the BNF the wrong way? BMD have given Modubule recruitment forms, where do they think he is going to get members except from amongst BNF members?

They talk of cooperation on one side of the mouth while on the other side, they are busy recruiting our members and people expect us to welcome them with flowers and ululations. No, we are not that dumb,' continues another Comrade.

Is the opposition unity project under threat even before it can start? Are opposition parties learning any lessons from past mistakes?

BNF president Duma Boko said they are committed to opposition unity and they will, in the course of time, be meeting with other parties to discuss cooperation. BMD spokesperson Sidney Pilane said they will not be disturbed by what is said by activists but will only wait to hear from party leaders. 'We are committed to opposition cooperation,' he said.